Dear Shaded Viewers,
Maria Clara Restrapo and Ian Jesson Phin expanded their business and moved their offices and studio into a 17th century mill outside the city limits of Milan.
Maria studied law before fashion, Ian studied Textiles at the Royal College of Art, they met at Romeo Gigli where they both worked for six years. Afterwards it was two years at Versace while Maria consulted for Marni, before finally getting Rohka off the ground.
Rohka designs all their prints and fabrics which give them a freedom that is as signature to their brand as the structure made of the unstructured. THey like to think of their pieces as accents in a wardrobe, their work is a combination of technology and manual intervention. THe technique of digital printing is pushed in several directions resulting in three distinct fabrics, one with multi coloured splashes of saturated ink running free over the surface of a silk and wool crepe, another using the luminescent effect derived from photographing diffused lights and printed on a reflective satin and the third pushing the subtle graphic properties to create an almost monochromatic effect that uses endless amounts of shades even within one tone.
The knits are made in Scotland using 1950’s machinery which allows seamless knitting.
The collection is available at Dover Street Market, London, Biffi and Banner, Milan, Plum, Beirut, Noodle Stories, Los Angeles, Cloche, Kobe.